DESCRIPTION
Ariṭṭha - A monk. He was subjected by the Sangha to the ukkhepaniyakamma (’expulsion’) for refusal to renounce a wrong view, namely, that the states of mind declared by the Buddha to be stumbling blocks are not such at all for him who indulges in them. Ariṭṭha left the Order and would not come back until the ukkhepaniyakamma was revoked (Vin.ii.25-8).
He was a vulture trainer (gaddhabadhiputta). His case is cited as that of a pacittaya offence because he refused to give up a wrong doctrine even after the monks had three times requested him to do so (Vin.iv.135). In spite of the ukkhepaniyakamma the Chabbaggiya monks kept company with Arittha, thereby committing a pacittaya offence (Vin.iv.137). We find the Buddha rebuking the nun Thullananda for associating with Arittha after the ukkhepaniyakamma (Vin.iv.218). It was Ariṭṭha’s heresy that led to the preaching of the Alagaddupama Sutta (MN 22).
In the Samyutta Nikaya (S.v.314-15), Arittha is mentioned as having said to the Buddha that he practiced concentration in breathing and as having described how he did it. The Buddha, thereupon, instructs him as to how such concentration can be done perfectly and in every detail.
In the Samanatapasadika Arittha is mentioned in a list of enemies of the Sasana. Sp.iv.874.